Alloy



weldingqualities of copper alloys having a high l atented May "5, 1936 r ALLoY y Arthur it. Lytle, Flushing, N. YJassignor, by.

mesne assignments, to Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation, a corporation ,of-New York .No Drawing. Application ctobe r1933, I I

Serial No.t96,o2 5

/ 4 claims. (01. 'zsse) j The present'invention relates to'metallic compositions-and more particularly to such compositions which are useful for bearing purposes and as weldingrods for building up such bearing compositions. I g A.well recognizedsprinciple of the oxy-acetylene welding art is the use of a strongly oxidizing "flame when weldi g copper alloys such as brass and bronze, for with thisftype of flamemost of the common copper alloys may be successfully welded and the weld metal will be free fromv porosity. However, considerable difficulties are, encountered when attempts are made to weld copper alloys having a high lead content, such as bearing compositions, for example, since in this case a more strongly oxidizing flame is necessary than when welding copper alloys containing no lead. The excessively oxidizing character of this flame leads to the formation of a heavy refractory coating of slag in' the weldingpuddle and difficulty is met with in floating this sla'g to the surface. As a satisfactory compromise cannot be reached, the welding of this type of alloys has always been considered isfactory operation.

An object of this invention is to'improve the avery unsatlead content, so that it is possible, when using the proper welding flame, to obtain a weld deposit which is of uniform composition and. substantially free from porosity, slag or oxide inclusions, and other defects. f- Another object of this invention is to produce ened by the addition of silicon. J

In accordance with the principles of this invention, the above objects are attained and the lead-containing bearing bronzes which are harddifficulties mentioned are avoided by adding sili- *con to lead-containing copper alloys having a high lead content, whereby there is obtained a novel type of alloy having a hard matrix in spite of a high lead content, Although silicon, has

generally been considered undesirable by bronze founders as an addition to bronze for" castings,

lead content desired for bearing snrfaces may be safely maintained. This combination of greater hardness in spite of a high lead content" results in a longer useful life for bearings as compared with bearings without silicon weldability thereof.

Ithas also been found that,'in welding rods, in addition to silicon, zinc, either with or without softer matrix obtained in alloys having and improves the constituent.

phosphorus, is of further advantage in improving the flowing quality and soundness of the deposited metal. Furthermore, although silicon is PATENT OFFICE generally preferred as a hardening agent, either magnesium oraluminum may be substituted .thetin contentmay be lowered proportionately. A tin content of 8% to 10% providesthe proper proportion of hard microconstituents with the a low silicon-content J A suitable basic composition or base alloy, which may be improved in accordance with the principles of this invention, is substantially as follows: i x L A 4 3 Percent Lead 8 to 18 Tin 6 to 10 Copper the remainder This composition is generally known as-a bearing alloy. It has been found that to improve the welding characteristics and bearing properties of this alloy, the addition, of as small an amount of silicon as 1.25% is effective, although as much as 5% silicon may be desirable in some particular cases. I have also found that the alloys having a silicon content below about 1%are rela tively soft and not essentially difierent in physical properties from the base alloy, regardless of the zinc content. However, asthesilicon content is increased over 1%, the hardness of the alloy increases rapidly untifwith about 6% silicon, a somewhat brittle alloy is obtained. Therefore, there are, in general, at least two types of alloys which'maybe used for bearing purposes or for welding rodsfor building up bearings.

Insteadof silicon, it is' possible to use either magnesium or aluminum as a hardening and are strong slagging agents and readily form a oxidizer or hardener, zinc is of sufiicient' benefit to be added also, and for this purpose from 3 to 5% zinc seems to be best.

Phosphorus may be used concurrently" with Generally, whether silicon, magnesium or aluminum is used as a desilicon. Phosphorus-containing alloysare espe- I cially freeeflowing, and the deposited metal is free from porosity. Phosphorus also possesses the ability to harden copper since it' forms copper-phosphide, a hard constituent'which lengthens the .useful life of bearings of which it is a It may be advantageous to add relatively small amounts of nickel to some of the alloys described herein. Nickel apparently has two functions: first it helps to sustain the lead in suspension so that it is uniformly distributed throughout the alloy; second, it combines with silicon to form nickel-silicide, which in itself is a hardening agent for copper alloys.

A,few typical alloy compositions made in accordance with the principles of this invention are as follows:

Copper Lead Tin Silicon Zinc Nickel The alloy of -the invention thus comprises a leadbronze containing a powerful deoxidizing agent such as silicon, aluminum or magnesium, a fluidifying agent such as silicon, phosphorus or zinc, and a hardening agent such as silicon, phosphorus or nickel.

What is claimed is: r v

1. An alloy having the composition: 8% to 18% lead, 6% to 10% tin, 0.25% t0 5% silicon, and the remainder copper.

2. An alloy having the composition: 12% to 15% lead, 8% t0'10% tin, 0.5% to 1.25% silicon, and the remainder copper.

3. An alloy having the composition: 12% to 15% lead, 8% to,10% tin, 2% to 4% silicon, and 

